The nine lives of retinopathy of prematurity
- Correspondence to: W V Good Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, 2318 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA 94115, USA; GoodSki.org
Each time it appears to have been eliminated, it resurfaces
Old Deuteronomy’s lived a long time; He’s a Cat who has lived many lives in succession. He was famous in proverb and famous in rhyme A long while before Queen Victoria’s accession. Old Deuteronomy’s buried nine wives And more—I am tempted to say, ninety-nine; And his numerous progeny prospers and thrives And the village is proud of him in his decline. At the sight of that placid and bland physiognomy, When he sits in the sun on the vicarage wall, The Oldest Inhabitant croaks: “Well, of all . . . Things. . . Can it be . . . really! . . . No!. . . Yes!. . . Ho! hi! Oh, my eye! My mind may be wandering, but I confess I believe it is Old Deuteronomy!” From TS Eliot’s: Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats
Life is bracketed by two turbulent periods: birth and death. At both ends, the medical field struggles to expand the lifespan, to promote viability in increasingly premature infants and increasingly aged populations. At the limits of viability there is a price to pay to sustain life. Statistics on viability in preterm infants show that …
